Passionate Ink by Jan Springer Page B

fine,” she reassured. Oh boy, she was very energized, despite all that sex today, and she was famished. “Truly fine. Come on inside. I’ll flip on my air-con. Have you eaten anything yet?”
    Misty shook her head. “I couldn’t eat a thing not knowing if you were okay or not.”
    “Well, now you can eat, sweetie. Come on in.” She curled her hand into Misty’s and, after unlocking her door, she pulled her friend up the stairs and they went inside.
    * * * * *
     
    “I don’t know how you survive when I’m on the road, Miss.” Catalina laughed as she set two plates filled with seafood salad onto the small bench table that doubled for her tattoo foyer, and sat opposite Misty who poured them two glasses of red wine.
    “Contrary to popular belief, I do worry about you.” She reached out and placed her hands over Cat’s, squeezing gently. “Um, that’s why I call you every day, remember?” Misty asked softly.
    Catalina laughed. “How could I forget?”
    “So…?” Curiosity sparkled in Misty’s eyes. “You missed work. You say everything is fine. You look like a fox who just swallowed the canary. It must mean…hmm, the man with the tentacle tattoo?”
    Cat feigned ignorance as she stabbed her fork into a piece of crab. She was actually starving tonight and the seafood salad she’d made early this morning and stashed in her refrigerator for supper was coming in very handy.
    “And…so…what did you two do today? It must have been something swanky if you didn’t even bother to let your clients know their appointments had been canceled.”
    Guilt assailed her yet again. She needed to call them and apologize. She stabbed another forkful of seafood and shoved it into her mouth.
    Delightful salty flavors exploded against her taste buds and she moaned softly at the array of sensations bursting over her tongue.
    “Hmm, in the way you’re eating…” Misty’s eyes widened in shock and then excitement.
    “Obviously you haven’t eaten all day. Did you two…?” She raised her eyebrows up and down several times and Cat had to laugh at the intense anticipation flooding through Misty’s features.
    “Did we what?” Cat couldn’t help but tease.
    “You know…”
    “No, I don’t know. No, we didn’t eat if that’s what you are insinuating.” Her cheeks warmed quite a lot as she remembered why they didn’t eat. Actually, that wasn’t true. They did eat. Each other.
    “You had sex!” Misty gasped. This time, she moved to the edge of her seat and squirmed around like an excited child.
    With Misty, Cat had never really been embarrassed talking about sex. Actually, she had several friends around the country who were such true friends, even if she saw them once or twice a year for a few weeks, it was as if they’d never been apart. She was lucky she seemed to gravitate toward loyal and concerned friends such as Misty. And she could talk to them about her sex life. Or lack thereof. Until now.
    Cat laughed at her friend’s surprised reaction. “It’s not like it’s my first time.”
    “Oh my God! It must be serious. I mean, you always wait until you know a guy longer before you have sex with him.” Her friend frowned. “But it can’t be serious. You just met him yesterday and you mentioned a girlfriend.”
    “He lied about the girlfriend. He doesn’t have one.”
    A deeper frown marred Misty’s forehead and her voice softened as if she were suddenly talking to an inexperienced teenager. “Oh no, honey, guys use that line all the time to get a girl into bed.”
    “I’m going with my gut on this. I believe him.”
    “You hardly know him. You could get hurt. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
    “I know, but…it just happened and oh my gosh I’ve never had such good sex. I’ve never had good sex…until this guy. I mean, we were clowning around at his houseboat and we just fell into bed.” She, of course, meant that quite literally. “And after I awoke, we did it in his swimming pool.